Birthday Pilgrimage

Today I took the day off to visit Earth Mother, a painting by Edward Burne-Jones. Had only found out about her existence a month ago and she had been calling to me ever since I saw the painting listed on their website. Every bit worth the drive, even worth the odd looks from the security guard who seemed puzzled by my reverence and length of visit. Likely he was afraid I was going to try and run off with it or get it wet with my misty eyes. :) 

Worcester Art Museum, or WAM !

Happily surprised at how many pieces of Medieval Art was to be found there, paintings and sculptures and even a reconstructed Medieval Chapter House with glorious Stained Glass.

Took notes, was inspired, made sketches, took some pictures. The photos were taken with my Droid Phone and without flash, so none really captured the work very well, but wanted to share them here just for memory's sake and for some fun pairings.

Looking forward to visiting again!

Fragments of Time

So excited to finally unveil this collection I have been working on with a friend for more than a year!

Medieval Incunabula Jewels

Wanted to do this amazing project justice, and as you can imagine the first test was an intense one! I am really happy with what I have created with the beautiful fragment supplied by Michael Laird Rare Books, and hope you enjoy the first four of hopefully more to come!

photography

For anyone looking to improve their skills at small object photography, I highly recommend Steve Meltzer's  Photographing Arts, Crafts & Collectibles . I just purchased it the other day, and haven't delved very deep into it, but have already seen an improvement thanks to his explanation of how to best light a piece of jewelry with reflective surfaces.

Here is an example: the Lumina Window Necklace from my Etsy shop. I was never quite happy with how my photo captured the beauty of the stained glass and patina of this necklace.

now, with Steve's lighting suggestions and a more textural background

Here's to learning and improving! I'm sure to do both with further reading of this in depth book.